Police catch fugitive gunman in Turkey

Officials looking into link between consulate attackers, al-Qaida.

Officials looking into link between consulate attackers, al-Qaida.

July 11, 2008

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- Turkish authorities captured a gunman Thursday wanted in the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate after rounding up suspects who had communicated with three other assailants killed by police, local media reports said. Officials were investigating whether the attackers were linked to al-Qaida. Police suspect the four gunmen had ties to the terrorist network but said that so far they had no proof of that link. Wednesday's attack on the consulate in Istanbul ignited a firefight that killed three policemen and three assailants and prompted Turkey to increase security at all U.S. diplomatic missions in the country. The private Dogan news agency reported that the fourth gunman, who fled after the attack, was caught after his getaway car was found Thursday and was being interrogated. A police officer in Istanbul confirmed the report but would not give details. He refused to give his name because Turkish law bars civil servants from speaking to journalists without authorization. Interior Minister Besir Atalay earlier said police detained four others suspected of links to the gunmen hours after the shootout. Dogan reported one of the four was detained in a town on the Armenian border after authorities established he had been in frequent telephone contact with the assailants. The others were detained in Istanbul. "What we need to do now is to determine their (the assailants') points of contact," Atalay told reporters. Police had set up roadblocks around Istanbul as part of the search for the fugitive gunman, who fled in a gray Ford Focus, according to witnesses and security camera footage.